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Sterling Bay's plan for Lincoln Yards will essentially create a new Chicago neighborhood. Credit: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

LINCOLN PARK — Neighbors of the Lincoln Yards mega-development can tune in this week for a virtual update on the controversial riverfront project — the first public meeting on the project in months.

The Sheffield Neighborhood Association and Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) will provide an update on Lincoln Yards 6-7 p.m. Thursday. The meeting will be facilitated by neighborhood association President Brian Comer and will be held on Zoom, Hopkins said in an email newsletter.

You must RSVP online to attend the meeting and attendance will be limited to 500 people. Attendees may submit questions via the registration form. For more information about this event, contact Hopkins by email.

The $6 billion project from developer Sterling Bay aims to turn 55 acres along the Chicago River into a neighborhood with housing and retail. 

Neighboring residents, business owners and activists fought the project during months of hotly contested debates. But in April 2019, City Council voted to approve $1.6 billion in subsidies for Lincoln Yards and The 78, a separate development near South Loop. Lincoln Yards received $1.3 billion.

The Lincoln Yards TIF district, named the Cortland and Chicago River TIF, will generate at least $900 million to cover the cost of infrastructure projects to pave the way for Lincoln Yards. Public funds will be reimbursed to Sterling Bay only after the projects are completed — and only if they meet city standards.

This year, Sterling Bay plans to break ground on a life sciences building and begin $35 million in infrastructure projects, including a new bridge and the extension of the Bloomingdale Trail beyond the Kennedy Expressway.

Thursday’s meeting follows recent complaints about the 14-person Lincoln Yards Community Advisory Council, a group advising Mayor Lori Lightfoot on plans at the site.

David Lissner, Ranch Triangle Neighbors Association president, wrote to Lightfoot in December saying the council lacked neighbor participation. The city received hundreds of applications for the council, but Lissner said no one from his neighborhood — the closest to Lincoln Yards, geographically — was selected.

RELATED STORIES:

Despite City’s ‘Rush To Judgment’ On Lincoln Yards, Judge Says Lawsuit To Block Tax Subsidy Might Not Fly

The race to beat the clock on Lincoln Yards: How a delay could have stopped the megadevelopment from getting $1.3 billion in taxpayer money (Chicago Tribune) 

Sterling Bay Wanted To Give New Lincoln Yards Soccer Fields To City, But Park District Can’t Afford It

What Are These Soccer Fields Popping Up At Lincoln Yards? Ald. Hopkins Announces Fleet Fields

Potential Buyers Of Stanley’s Market Thought Sterling Bay Was Coming, But No Sale Has Happened, Realtor Says

As Newly Elected Aldermen Protest Outside, City Council Approves $1.6 Billion Lincoln Yards, The 78 Projects

Lincoln Yards Plan Will Move Forward After Sterling Bay Agrees To More Affordable Housing On Site

Sterling Bay Commits To Building School, Library Or ‘Shared Space’ As Part of Lincoln Yards

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